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Barring some miracle hidden in a recount of Tuesday’s primary runoff or in overseas military absentee ballots still counted through Friday, Lee Anderson is the Republican nominee for the 12th District congressional seat. He’ll now plow ahead to the November election against Democratic incumbent John Barrow.

Barely three weeks ago, Columbia County voters decided several races in the July 31 primary. But in two races, the job isn’t finished. With four candidates running for the Republican nomination for the District 12 Congressional seat, and three candidates seeking the Columbia County District 1 School Board seat, no one landed a simple majority of votes.

It appears the 12th District race for the Republican nomination has come down to Lee Anderson and Rick Allen. One of the two will survive a Aug. 21 runoff and go on to what is expected to be a very tough race in November against incumbent John Barrow.

The election is less than two weeks away, which means the candidates have a short time to persuade voters to head back to the polls. But just as being cooped up in a car for too long on a family vacation can make kids turn cranky, the compressed time until election day can bring out a lot of ugliness.

There’s little comfort in knowing Columbia County voters agreed with our call to reject adding an extra 1 percent to the sales tax to pay for transportation projects. Most of the counties in the 13-county region voted otherwise, so come Jan. 1, everyone’s taxes on local purchases go up by 14 percent. Happy new year.

After three weeks of advance voting, the election Tuesday seems almost anti-climactic. But most people haven’t yet voted, and many haven’t decided between candidates. Here are our suggestions for contested races voters will find on Columbia County ballots.

We urge all voters to choose a Republican ballot. It’s the only way to vote on all available contested races.

As Augusta officials continue to fret and wring their hands over recent violence after First Friday, from Columbia County’s perspective you have to wonder: Why not demand safety and security every Friday?

For that matter, why not demand safety every day? Everywhere? Why even tolerate roving bands of thugs and the violence they stir?

Starting Monday, Columbia County voters can go to the Board of Elections office in Evans to cast a ballot in the July 31 primary.

It’s an important election. In fact, on the purely local level, voter participation arguably is more important than in November’s presidential election. After all, local voters are unlikely to sway a nationwide outcome, but they are the only ones with a voice in local elections.